Albert Suarez Designated For Assignment

The Orioles have designated right-hander Albert Suarez for assignment, the team announced. Closer Ryan Helsley has been reinstated from the bereavement list to take Suarez’s roster spot.

Suarez tossed a season-high 59 pitches in mop-up duty behind an ineffective Trevor Rogers on Saturday. He permitted four runs, but all of them were unearned thanks to errors by Adley Rutschman and Jeremiah Jackson. Suarez has provided reliable swingman work for the club over the past three seasons. Baltimore is likely hoping to sneak him through waivers and retain him as Triple-A depth. The club’s 40-man roster is down to 38 players following the move.

Baltimore brought Suarez back on a minor league deal in the winter. With Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt added to the rotation, plus a healthy Tyler Wells penciled in for long relief work, Suarez didn’t have a clear path to the big-league roster. A 7.59 ERA in MLB Spring Training didn’t help matters. An injury to Zach Eflin shortly into the regular season gave Suarez an opportunity before he could even make a minor league appearance.

The 36-year-old righty picked up a three-inning save in his return to the big leagues. Suarez has delivered a 3.46 ERA across 13 innings this year. He has nearly as many walks (5) as strikeouts (6), but has been able to skirt damage thanks to a .179 batting average on balls in play. Suarez doesn’t possess elite stuff, and his underlying metrics have typically lagged behind his actual production, but he’s posted a 3.58 ERA over 158 1/3 innings in Baltimore since debuting with the team in 2024.

The Orioles now have five days to trade Suarez or place him on outright waivers. If he makes it through waivers, he could head back to Triple-A Norfolk. Suarez has been outrighted in the past, so he could choose to forego the minor league assignment and test free agency.